rei-ismyname

[rei-ismyname]

Scott rethinks life at Jean's funeral

Chuck's ungrateful shithead imperialist bird girlfriend sentenced Jean to death for embracing girl power. Failing to execute her, Jean went and did it herself. Scott does a lot of thinking at the funeral, basically doing a clip show of X-Men history through his eyes. He thinks back to the very first day that Jean arrived and how things seemed simpler then even when fighting Magneto every other week.

There's some fascinating stuff here. Scott's view of the school's purpose - 'to seek out mutants and train them in the use of their powers' - has to be viewed as something of a failure in retrospect. They spent a lot of time beating up mutants who could already use their powers and didn't expand the teaching aspect beyond the O5 for decades. Bobby's disinterest in the arrival of a girl certainly hits different, as does the fact that they went to fight Magneto with only a few hours training. Scott reflects on his infatuation with Jean and acknowledges the role of childhood trauma in keeping it to himself - and his DEADLY EYES - of course.

A lot of Magneto fights here, especially once he recruited the Brotherhood. Xavier's presence is felt even when he wasn't there, his deception and odd behaviour viewed mostly neutrally at this point. There's a thread of being 'good X-Men' and 'loyal' running through to present day, though Scott has conflicted feelings about it.

The ridiculousness of shit like the Savage Land sticks out next to realising Jean had become the most important thing in Scott's life. I guess it doesn't seem that way when you're fighting for your life vs dinosaurs and shit. The thwarted polyamory of Scott, Warren and Jean gets a nod even as a devastated Warren stands beside him at her funeral. I'm so glad that three full panels are dedicated to Magneto's multiple alien abductions. Scott being like 'good! I wish that stuck' just makes it even funnier. The sliding timescale is such a headfuck and putting all the X-Men's history side by side just makes me think these poor MFs do not get downtime.

I think early Juggernaut is kinda boring tbh, though it's interesting that he'd even show up on Cerebro. I mean, he did. We saw it, but we know he's not a mutant despite joining the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Dude just hated Chuck *that* much, pretty relatable really. It's pretty funny that Chuck has abandoned his dream, Earth, and the X-Men in general while Cain is fighting in the trenches. Both have happened multiple times but not simultaneously (I'm pretty sure.) If they do start another school they should call it The Marko School for whatever just to troll Chuck.

Moving on to Bolivar Trask's very successful and swift anti-mutant efforts with both rhetoric and sentinels feels like a nod to Cold War paranoia. Something I enjoyed about ORCHIS as an enemy was the nod to the original sentinels as third parties with their own agenda. Machines of hate that backfire on their creators - you have to wonder why people keep building them.

The mood whiplash of the lover's stroll, snuck in between dire fights for survival is appropriate considering Jean's very recent death. The whole Phoenix thing came about because another idiot built sentinels - Steven Lang - and Jean nearly died saving the X-Men. It's a cute vignette, though Scott and Jean having speech bubbles coming out of their mouths while kissing looks awkward. Perhaps that's appropriate, as we're in the realm of memory and nobody is a completely reliable narrator.

Early Lorna and Alex shit is wild in retrospect, especially Mesmero's parentage scam. Should have listened to the dude lol. Weird epigenetics would totally end up being a thing. Another casual nod to alien abduction, this time in service of hyping Magneto as a pest that will not give up. Obviously the double fist pump is great, but the juice here is the X-Men as family even without Xavier around. They defied the FBI, but it was just one guy and it was was more of a recommendation.

Green hair = mutant apparently

Woo! Chuck's first death faking. There's so many ways to interpret Xavier in general, but I like pathological liar failson. It feels like half the Silver Age is writers figuring out ways to remove him from the equation, then having to figure out reasons for his sudden return. 'Weird lies' works as well as anything and it's a character trait that's shaped his modern history.

First mention of Krakoa and the ANAD X-Men, including the rest of the O5 leaving and Scott staying. The new team aren't family yet, but the team itself was something Scott wouldn't or couldn't give up. He loves Jean but he is an X-Man, simply not knowing how to define himself without it.

He reflects on Thunderbird's death (dude was incredibly determined to die tbh) through the lens of doubt. Questioning the kind of life he was leading. He wouldn't be Scott Summers if he didn't blame himself in some way, but he's in stream of consciousness and free associating.

The time skip to Project Armageddon is inserted by me. Not that the time wasn't interesting but much of it doesn't have Jean in it. The Phoenixification as a result of sacrificing herself to save everyone else is significant, especially the part of Scott that wishes Jean did actually die. I think it's a smaller part than the appreciation of extra time spent together, but it's still there as a turning point. Magneto's fantastic head shows up again next to the true villain of this period - Mastermind. Dude really sucks.

Speaking of things that really suck - space bullshit, Lilandra, the Imperial Guard, James Hudson. Mesmero gets a pass for rocking that cunty pose on the desk, lol. Scott ponders Jean's godhood and his refusal to grieve the last time he thought she was dead. He's quite aware of the rest of the X-Men considering him uncaring - both untrue and relatable, at least for me. Certain people can have loud opinions on the right way to grieve. I've been on both sides of that coin but don't have anything groundbreaking to add. Grief sucks and there's no right way to do it.

It's a shame that Scott considers Arcade and not The Proletarian he created - a far more interesting character in my book. His thoughts drift to Proteus, Kitty and the Hellfire Club - especially the ten minutes Jean spent as Black Queen. Hellfire are such jerks, and I'm surprised Mastermind doesn't get more hate in universe for his actions. Dude's attempt to yassify Jean really backfired for him.

Still... She did nothing wrong. God forbid women do anything, my girl was hungry. The Shi'Ar think they run the universe, as if only they are allowed to kill or oppress their subjects. Lilandra has some gall coming to the funeral, chatting to Jean's parents like 'not sorry I tried to execute your daughter. She smoke too tough, her swag too different, her bitch too bad, etc. Here's a reminder of her to keep you company until we come back and honour the rest of you.' Nobody seems to have a grudge though.

Scott puts on a brave face for them while internally lacking the words to describe the pain. Kurt's surprise that he's leaving the X-Men is understandable - that's his entire support network plus Logan. Chuck isn't surprised though. He either suspected it based on his knowledge of Scott or read his mind (it was the second one.) His words are pretty heartfelt considering where Scott learned his coping and communication skills, though he does open with asking if he'll be back. Cyclops will obviously return, but he's got some mourning and marrying to do first. I enjoy seeing the clip show employed in a different medium though I wonder what one would look like now. I guess that's not really how Marvel uses nostalgia so I'm unlikely to ever find out.

[rei-ismyname]

For your six character meme, I'll go with the obvious: the Original Five X-Men and dear Charles Xavier.

Heh! Excellent choice.

Set on Fire is the easiest by far. Sorry not sorry, Chuck. Jerk

Push off a cliff - Bobby is a pretty easy choice for this. He can ice slide to safety! Warren would be here if I didn't want to marry him for money.

Kiss Scott on the forehead. He deserves it.

Marry Angel. I'm poor and he's rich. It's a pretty vulgar calculus though he's probably also the partner who brings the least drama. I'd be open about the choice and he'd probably be cool with it.

Wrap a blanket around Hank, covering his mouth if need be. I'd let him free if he agrees to make me dexies.

Be Roommates with Jean. She's the most functional adult and most compassionate. Depending on when this takes place I'd be getting a drastically different experience. If I can choose I'd choose Krakoa era Jean :). I'm almost certain I'd be assassinated which isn't great, but Misty Knight and Ororo are still kicking so maybe not.

Thanks for playing!

[rei-ismyname]

What about the Summers/Grey family for the 6 characters thing? Scott, Jean, Cable, Rachel, Hope, and I guess Alex?

Hey! Excellent choice for the 6 characters ask game. X-Men is tailor made for this because of the team/class/family/etc divisions.

Push off a cliff is the easiest one. Jean - because she could survive it easily and read my mind to confirm I had no choice.

Kiss Hope I guess? On the cheek though because she's a lot younger than me. I did this one last. I could swap her with Cable if that was problematic.

Marry Rachel. She's the most chill and I think we would get along. I've got plenty to keep me occupied while she's doing time travel and lezzing out.

Set on Fire. Alex, no contest. It's not going to screw my marriage or housemate relationships up much either.

Wrap a blanket around Scott! Poor bitch needs it.

Be Roommates with Cable. Young Cable would be annoying and chaotic but I think we have enough in common. I'd be happy to tell him when he's being an idiot. Old Cable as a roommate would be fire. Nobody would know where we live and he could get me future medicine and health stuff. I don't like guns but I'd just have to trust him. Deadpool isn't allowed over ever.

Thanks for playing!

[rei-ismyname]

X-Men trust exercise

Mastermind has created illusions of super sharp spikes to thwart the X-Men and they, understandably, react as if they're real. All their senses tell them so. Chuck has figured it out, but he doesn't explain that. He's like 'we can just walk straight through them' but tells Scott to go first. I've got to say, even if I trusted someone implicitly, that 'you first' would be a red flag. He's fine, but this panel creeps me out. It's not like it's better with added context either.

[rei-ismyname]

Exceptional X-Men #9 review

"...You fight alone and I do not."

Ewing and Carnero are leading the pack by a considerable margin as Exceptional X-Men hits the climax of its second arc - face to face with Mister Sinister and his cloning ambitions. Kitty's attempt at normal is put on the shelf when Axo needs rescuing, so too is any conflict with Emma. THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP! Full spoilers ahoy.

Exceptional X-Men has been called slow by some and those people are welcome to think what they like. Personally, I think a better word for it is purposeful. Open a random page of a comic book and you have a really good chance of landing on a supervillain fight - there's really no shortage of action going around. It's mandatory - there must be physical violence each issue. What is actually rare is dedicated character development. All the characters in this book are new*. The kids we've been getting to know over the last 8 issues, and the adults who are in a transitory period of life. They're relatable enough to get invested in, with universal motivations. They feel like people and the interpersonal dynamics are established. Similarly, when protagonists are constantly fending off multiple supervillains, robots, demons etc it becomes rote - just something that happens every issue with muted stakes. The rising tension has been cleverly woven in with plot and character beats, so the anticipation is palpable.

BUMP!

Taking the time to show why we should care is respecting the reader's intelligence. Front loading the character work and dynamics establishes room to challenge them, to pick up the pace when it's dramatically satisfying, trusting the reader to follow along - a monthly ongoing is as long haul as modern comics gets, and Exceptional knows what it's about. We know more about any one of these kids than all the Outliers put together. Everyone has had their soul laid bare - except Emma. She's carrying a lot of grief and now she has to show up for the kids by facing everything she'd rather not. Krakoa had a devil and his name is Sinister. The more things change, the more he stays the same. It takes confidence in your craft to only properly fight the team's first supervillain in issue 9. These are children after all and they're fragile, inexperienced. Just getting along is a challenge. The danger is that you need to stick the landing, of course.

Bronze and Melee had already figured out that this wasn't their friend when he melted in a coffee shop. They were pretty damn suss before that too. Their voices feel maybe a little too light-hearted considering the situation they're in, but the book has done the work. I can believe the comfort in higher stakes is a result of training, guidance, and growth.

Kitty is me about R-LDS

Alas, Kitty and Emma are on the fence there and make the very un-X-men decision to keep them out of supervillain battles. A demonstration of Kitty's oft forgotten genius computer skills is a big thumbs up, ditto for putting the S.X = Essex connection together. Her anger is fierce and rendered cinematically, shaking with rage as she puts it together then shifting to the simmering fury of action as she uses it for fuel. Sinister is exactly the kind of asshole who thinks he's smart enough for his bad pun addiction to not matter.

R-LDS can go fuck itself as a concept but the mention of it here is interesting. It's obviously not the issue at hand, Bobby you moron, but seeding that he heard about it from Rogue does a lot of work in a single speech bubble. The Alaska team has passed along some amount of information about it to Rogue, who Bobby heard it from (not Scott or Hank, curiously.) Emma doesn't sound surprised to hear it, so she's probably heard about it too but not from Bobby. It's not spelled out but of course these folks share intel with each other, especially on something as allegedly serious as R-LDS. That connectivity between long term friends isn't allowed on page but at least we get confirmation of a vibe test degree of communication. That's excellent, and it's not something any other book has done. I'd prefer to ignore the concept altogether and just make Magneto have 90 year old man syndrome or something, but if you're going to do it then fucking do it. Take it seriously, you know?

I've seen other interpretations on the RLDS mention in this issue - mainly treating it as confirmation, at least more than I do. I can see it; Kate's speculation on the Axo clone being made from 'bad Krakoan DNA stuff' gives some credence to R-LDS itself being accepted as a real thing and not just a theory excitedly cooked up by a scientifically obsolete Hank McCoy. I figure none of the characters discussing it are geneticists so a Watsonian reading would make their behaviour frantic speculation. A Doylist analysis recognises the laws of narrative economy - that you use precious finite page space as effectively as possible. The author has chosen to include R-LDS discussion here and now, so we're meant to treat it with a degree of significance. I don't believe that this mention confirms it either way, merely that the characters are aware of it and are using logic and vibes to puzzle out what's going on. Emma mysteriously collapses at the end, but the solicits suggest it's some kind of psychic fuckery. Could be both, of course, maybe I'm just hoping it's not. Mashing the Legacy virus and AvX power incontinence while shitting on Krakoa is a boring concept for me. Moving on...

Uh, X-Men assemble!

There's no magic age where you become ready to fight Mister Sinister but Melee/Bronze are not ready. Kitty and Emma wisely order them to stay behind, perhaps forgetting that neither of them would obey that edict regardless of age. Kitty especially was precocious as hell, finding her way into all sorts of trouble. She was a master stowaway, for instance, ending up in all sorts of places. They just want the kids to be safe, to live to adulthood, and they already have one of their charges in mortal peril. Pointedly ignoring Nina, whose queries about normalcy Kate left hanging. It's not something she's comfortable in confronting, ironically juxtaposed with charging into battle vs an immortal Victorian eugenicist. If she can't have normal for herself she's going to bend over backwards to give these kids the best chance at it.

It IS something Kate will have to confront, and in doing so own up to lies of omission. 'Normal' people might not be able to understand what you've been through, but they definitely won't if you don't let them in. As normcore as Nina seems, we don't actually know much about her. Kate has compartmentalized her relationship from her 'mutant life' - it can be a healthy dynamic (especially for their safety) but without opening up the relationship is dead in the water. The tension in admitting her fears, or that she's been treating her girlfriend as normalcy totem of ignorance, underpins her actions. It's a problem for later, though. She does freeze later mid-fight, paralyzed by trauma response, and I think she needs to admit that to herself. It's a very human thing to put up your walls and seek comfort/avoid difficulty, but nobody can do it alone.

This fucking jerkoff

I unironically love the Star Trek-ish technobabble. Nonsense words formed by smashing intuitive concepts together are generally easy to follow. Telepathy is already an ill-defined magic system, and many of the existing are insufficient. Dividing them into classes is mostly silly - alpha, beta, omega etc - just handwave it and show the results visually. I also enjoy that Bronze and Melee don't get involved due to defying their teachers, instead being lured there by an Iceman clone. A lot of the tension with teenagers is in their relationship with authority vs safety. Sinister is a thematically perfect choice from existing antagonists due to how he can subvert authority (and represents Krakoan trauma.)

It does raise the question of how Sinister was able to clone Bobby pretty much perfectly yet couldn't get close to Axo, but he has watched Bobby for years and would have had access to his DNA. Also, he had the ice clone bring them here so I assume he wanted them to come. The kids are a tactical liability right now anyway, splitting Kate's attention in general and getting frozen. Emma is trying to neutralize Sinister while freeing Axo and she needs Kate on board for that. It's nice to see being frozen as a risk of suffocation - Rogue was just fine for hours.

Kitty flat out freezes, suggesting repressing her trauma and guilt is really getting to her. She's not helpful to anyone just staring though so Emma shakes her out of it. The two women have shit to work through as well as interpersonal tension. Using solidarity and support to lift her up temporarily really works for me as a baseline. The issues are still there but they can deal with it later. Right now they need to work together to protect the kids by defeating Sinister. Bobby has his own battle but it's a clone without his experience. He's got this. Melee can phase and they've trained these kids, so they need to trust in that. Also, Sinister kicking Emma is hilarious.

Boom! Bobby comes through and smashes his clone to bits. His presence has had a bit of a question mark over it since he first arrived. I hope he gets a bit more development; he's a familiar character with less issues than Emma and Kate but he could use a little more page time. He really came into his own on Krakoa and embraced everything about himself, and granted - nobody has talked at length about their grief. I wonder how he'll deal when the dam breaks. The Hellfire Vigil is coming soon, maybe it'll happen there and be followed up here. Bronze and Melee do handle themselves well, phasing out of the ice holding hands. They didn't contribute much to the fight but there's growth there.

The fourth wall breaking has been incredibly effective so far and having Emma cut into Kitty's for support is a wonderful swerve. It lets Ewing have her cake and eat it - Kate's tension externalised and pushed through with support. Axo is right there too so she could have said it to his face. It's a bold stylistic choice, almost a flex. I love it.

Only once the entire team is fully in sync do they manage to turn the tables and shut Sinister up. His baroque ranting is a delight and it makes the denouement all the more moving. 'The Power of Friendship' is incredibly cliché when done poorly; it requires complete sincerity to pay off effectively. Borrowing Axo's strength is the kicker that makes it truly special, allowing a savoured victory in a held breath.

You can feel the jubilant exhaustion turn to crisis when Emma's ice cream headache turns out to be something more. She collapses, setting up a one on one psychic confrontation with Sinister and looping plot back into character as a stinger. Everything she's been holding back is a barrier to overcome and a weapon in the arsenal of the face of Krakoa's corruption and fall. I really look forward to it - Exceptional just slays. Solicits show Sophie dropping by at some point too, which makes me feel giddy. First, Sinister, then they can heal/have awkward conversations with their normcore girlfriend.

[rei-ismyname]

I enjoy it too! I'm annoyed on Scott's behalf in general for pretty much everything post (ugh) Manifest Destiny. Why TF did they call it that?

Chuck's Last Will and Testament 1

One fine day She-Hulk visited the Jean Grey school with Charles Xavier's will in hand. The gritted-teeth detente they'd reached with Scott Summers went out the window as they were not expecting this shit. The assumed presence of Scott will be tense enough but the very likely possibility of school ownership passing to him is salt in the wound.

The process of reading the will reminds everyone why it's necessary - the old man is dead and Scott killed him. It's an excellent dramatic tool, basically dropping an emotions bomb on everyone. Hilariously, She-Hulk has to ask if they're 100% positive he's dead. Superhuman law is wild shit, though I think it's a bit callous to act like it's exclusively an X-Men thing. She-Hulk is aware of the fourth wall, too so she should know better than anyone that it's a comic book thing.

The X-Men really want to get this over with but everyone named in the will must be present. That means Scott, and nobody is happy about it. Hank doesn't even want to think about him but he does know where his secret base is. I think Hank is not being entirely truthful here, perhaps unwittingly.

If he wasn't going to snitch he doesn't have a reason to spend time and effort fucking with Cerebro to find him. Yet he has done exactly that, despite firmly denouncing wanting anything to do with Scott in any capacity. Maybe he was going to then changed his mind. Either way, when it comes to Scott Hank is a ball of cold fury and spite.

She-Hulk is already regretting getting involved in X-Men drama, let alone Charles Xavier drama, when Logan pokes his head in to share that he doesn't own the school as previously thought. He signed it back over to Chuck at some point. I don't know what rock She-Hulk has been hiding under but her not knowing how Xavier died is odd. Nobody has been shy or quiet about why Scott is a fugitive and the Phoenix Five acted very publicly.

Rachel is the only one who doesn't completely buy the party line, extending grace to her alt-dad on grounds of Phoenix possession. It's a jab at AvX as she is the resident Phoenix expert, knowing more about it than everyone else here put together. Naturally she's ignored, as if they think about it too hard then they might develop some sympathy for Scott.

Logan swings his dick around and tries to do it without Scott, but he's as much of an expert in estate law as he is in Phoenixology. Logan cracks a smile after hearing where the secret school is located, then one thing leads to another and everyone wants to go get him. They could contact him or his crew via telepathy if they wished. They don't wish. I suspect they want to make things as uncomfortable for Scott as possible. Everyone has a lot of unexamined feelings about him that mainly manifest as anger.

Scott... has those too, with a ton of self loathing on top. These arseholes have been gaslighting him for years and he takes it pretty seriously. Slaying Chuck is eating him up and his support network, such as it is, is at an all-time low. He blames himself in a different way to everyone else though - where they just hold him culpable regardless of Phoenix possession he believes he wasn't strong enough to overcome it.

Of course, Scott is asleep when they come for him. Dude is frequently in bed when people come for serious chats, or maybe that just happens a lot including when he's trying to sleep. It must be Ororo's turn to barge into his room, surprising TF out of Scott. He barely has his clothes on before the other X-Men are psychoanalysing him and generally being passive aggressive. Attempts to refuse are handwaved by insisting that he has to be there for the reading.

Scott has had enough of these judgmental fucks and returns their mistrust with interest, under a veneer of politeness. He makes sure to check that there's no hidden motive or agenda and couldn't care less about Logan's prune face. I daresay everyone is glad he declined a ride - what an awkward trip that would be.

After discussing it briefly the entire faculty of the New Xavier School comes along for the ride, and the students are like 'what the fuck?' They're somewhat used to the emotional drama that's a near-constant, but they are surprised to be left without supervision. I'd expect Kitty to stay, but apparently not.

First cab off the rank is the hot reveal that Chuck married Mystique, shocking everyone present. It's a very strange thing to find out even for the reader. Especially for the reader. Chuck and Raven aren't exactly chums, and after Tempus makes some changes to the timeline this wedding somehow never happened. It's never explained and is a mystery to this day.

Emma Frost is ostensibly there for support, but she loses her shit when that tea is spilt. It's the most entertaining thing she's heard in a while. Nobody begrudges her enjoyment because it IS funny as fuck, though I'd expect a little more suspicion especially from Dazzler. Mystique is the queen of shady fucks and pettiness - it wouldn't surprise me if she surreptitiously finagled herself into the will just to fuck with the X-Men. Forget personal gain, she's committed to the bit.

Chuck has another surprise for them in the form of a Shi'Ar holographic projector. Fucks me why he'd include this in his will and not some other delivery method but it fits the theme of this will reading - Charles Xavier is NOT the saint he's revered as and he's got one final horribly dangerous secret. An ethically dubious responsibility for everyone to deal with that's already killed people - Matthew Malloy, the (groan) Omega Mutant - a man whose life he's been fucking with for decades. In part 2 the X-Men deal with that live grenade, Matthew has the worst day of his life, and then he's Terminator'd out of existence. Fun!

[rei-ismyname]

She has absolutely put Beast in his place. Starting from 1963 and her first day at Chuck's School for Kids that Fight Good

i hate when I'm talking about Jean Grey and someone brings up Wolverine because I have to start beating them and keep beating them and beating them and attacking them and mauling them and it's really tiring to do twice a week

[rei-ismyname]

Agreed. Now that I think about it, Jean putting Logan in his place during the shuttle reentry was probably a better choice

i hate when I'm talking about Jean Grey and someone brings up Wolverine because I have to start beating them and keep beating them and beating them and attacking them and mauling them and it's really tiring to do twice a week

[rei-ismyname]

Lame ripof of Checkers you olny get to kill one piiece at a timeeeeee. Too much RNG 0/5

[rei-ismyname]

i hate when I'm talking about Jean Grey and someone brings up Wolverine because I have to start beating them and keep beating them and beating them and attacking them and mauling them and it's really tiring to do twice a week

[rei-ismyname]

I think about it a lot tbh. Not just scenarios where somebody else is in charge when every genocidal threat from any timeline is making a beeline for a tiny island off San Francisco, but also how Jean would handle any of that. It's hard to say tbh. I can point to her joining X-Force on Krakoa but everyone was on board by then.

I think looking at how teen Jean eventually came around is a solid indicator. She's an idealist, but not at the expense of survival.

Chuck's Last Will and Testament 1

One fine day She-Hulk visited the Jean Grey school with Charles Xavier's will in hand. The gritted-teeth detente they'd reached with Scott Summers went out the window as they were not expecting this shit. The assumed presence of Scott will be tense enough but the very likely possibility of school ownership passing to him is salt in the wound.

The process of reading the will reminds everyone why it's necessary - the old man is dead and Scott killed him. It's an excellent dramatic tool, basically dropping an emotions bomb on everyone. Hilariously, She-Hulk has to ask if they're 100% positive he's dead. Superhuman law is wild shit, though I think it's a bit callous to act like it's exclusively an X-Men thing. She-Hulk is aware of the fourth wall, too so she should know better than anyone that it's a comic book thing.

The X-Men really want to get this over with but everyone named in the will must be present. That means Scott, and nobody is happy about it. Hank doesn't even want to think about him but he does know where his secret base is. I think Hank is not being entirely truthful here, perhaps unwittingly.

If he wasn't going to snitch he doesn't have a reason to spend time and effort fucking with Cerebro to find him. Yet he has done exactly that, despite firmly denouncing wanting anything to do with Scott in any capacity. Maybe he was going to then changed his mind. Either way, when it comes to Scott Hank is a ball of cold fury and spite.

She-Hulk is already regretting getting involved in X-Men drama, let alone Charles Xavier drama, when Logan pokes his head in to share that he doesn't own the school as previously thought. He signed it back over to Chuck at some point. I don't know what rock She-Hulk has been hiding under but her not knowing how Xavier died is odd. Nobody has been shy or quiet about why Scott is a fugitive and the Phoenix Five acted very publicly.

Rachel is the only one who doesn't completely buy the party line, extending grace to her alt-dad on grounds of Phoenix possession. It's a jab at AvX as she is the resident Phoenix expert, knowing more about it than everyone else here put together. Naturally she's ignored, as if they think about it too hard then they might develop some sympathy for Scott.

Logan swings his dick around and tries to do it without Scott, but he's as much of an expert in estate law as he is in Phoenixology. Logan cracks a smile after hearing where the secret school is located, then one thing leads to another and everyone wants to go get him. They could contact him or his crew via telepathy if they wished. They don't wish. I suspect they want to make things as uncomfortable for Scott as possible. Everyone has a lot of unexamined feelings about him that mainly manifest as anger.

Scott... has those too, with a ton of self loathing on top. These arseholes have been gaslighting him for years and he takes it pretty seriously. Slaying Chuck is eating him up and his support network, such as it is, is at an all-time low. He blames himself in a different way to everyone else though - where they just hold him culpable regardless of Phoenix possession he believes he wasn't strong enough to overcome it.

Of course, Scott is asleep when they come for him. Dude is frequently in bed when people come for serious chats, or maybe that just happens a lot including when he's trying to sleep. It must be Ororo's turn to barge into his room, surprising TF out of Scott. He barely has his clothes on before the other X-Men are psychoanalysing him and generally being passive aggressive. Attempts to refuse are handwaved by insisting that he has to be there for the reading.

Scott has had enough of these judgmental fucks and returns their mistrust with interest, under a veneer of politeness. He makes sure to check that there's no hidden motive or agenda and couldn't care less about Logan's prune face. I daresay everyone is glad he declined a ride - what an awkward trip that would be.

After discussing it briefly the entire faculty of the New Xavier School comes along for the ride, and the students are like 'what the fuck?' They're somewhat used to the emotional drama that's a near-constant, but they are surprised to be left without supervision. I'd expect Kitty to stay, but apparently not.

First cab off the rank is the hot reveal that Chuck married Mystique, shocking everyone present. It's a very strange thing to find out even for the reader. Especially for the reader. Chuck and Raven aren't exactly chums, and after Tempus makes some changes to the timeline this wedding somehow never happened. It's never explained and is a mystery to this day.

Emma Frost is ostensibly there for support, but she loses her shit when that tea is spilt. It's the most entertaining thing she's heard in a while. Nobody begrudges her enjoyment because it IS funny as fuck, though I'd expect a little more suspicion especially from Dazzler. Mystique is the queen of shady fucks and pettiness - it wouldn't surprise me if she surreptitiously finagled herself into the will just to fuck with the X-Men. Forget personal gain, she's committed to the bit.

Chuck has another surprise for them in the form of a Shi'Ar holographic projector. Fucks me why he'd include this in his will and not some other delivery method but it fits the theme of this will reading - Charles Xavier is NOT the saint he's revered as and he's got one final horribly dangerous secret. An ethically dubious responsibility for everyone to deal with that's already killed people - Matthew Malloy, the (groan) Omega Mutant - a man whose life he's been fucking with for decades. In part 2 the X-Men deal with that live grenade, Matthew has the worst day of his life, and then he's Terminator'd out of existence. Fun!

[rei-ismyname]

Depending on the era it's the other way round lol. Around AvX Logan would be in the middle with 5 unanswered messages from Scott

I’m fucking losing it at Logan ignoring the Avengers

[rei-ismyname]

Haha, it looks like she's giving a thumbs up

Krakoa Swimsuit Pin-up

I love this banger by Josh Cassara. I really need to know who's swinging off Krakoa watching all these adults get lit. Curse? IDK. Is Logan naked? I think he is. I wish they'd include Xavier and Mags in these swimsuit specials that keep happening.

[rei-ismyname]

Yeah it's a weird reactionary time for the X-Men. Obviously Chuck's death screwed them up, and I think the JG School X-Men overcorrected in response to AvX and Scott's tepid radicalism.

Xavier was a bit of a pariah before his death too, though maybe that explains it a bit. Misplaced guilt and anger

Chuck's Last Will and Testament 1

One fine day She-Hulk visited the Jean Grey school with Charles Xavier's will in hand. The gritted-teeth detente they'd reached with Scott Summers went out the window as they were not expecting this shit. The assumed presence of Scott will be tense enough but the very likely possibility of school ownership passing to him is salt in the wound.

The process of reading the will reminds everyone why it's necessary - the old man is dead and Scott killed him. It's an excellent dramatic tool, basically dropping an emotions bomb on everyone. Hilariously, She-Hulk has to ask if they're 100% positive he's dead. Superhuman law is wild shit, though I think it's a bit callous to act like it's exclusively an X-Men thing. She-Hulk is aware of the fourth wall, too so she should know better than anyone that it's a comic book thing.

The X-Men really want to get this over with but everyone named in the will must be present. That means Scott, and nobody is happy about it. Hank doesn't even want to think about him but he does know where his secret base is. I think Hank is not being entirely truthful here, perhaps unwittingly.

If he wasn't going to snitch he doesn't have a reason to spend time and effort fucking with Cerebro to find him. Yet he has done exactly that, despite firmly denouncing wanting anything to do with Scott in any capacity. Maybe he was going to then changed his mind. Either way, when it comes to Scott Hank is a ball of cold fury and spite.

She-Hulk is already regretting getting involved in X-Men drama, let alone Charles Xavier drama, when Logan pokes his head in to share that he doesn't own the school as previously thought. He signed it back over to Chuck at some point. I don't know what rock She-Hulk has been hiding under but her not knowing how Xavier died is odd. Nobody has been shy or quiet about why Scott is a fugitive and the Phoenix Five acted very publicly.

Rachel is the only one who doesn't completely buy the party line, extending grace to her alt-dad on grounds of Phoenix possession. It's a jab at AvX as she is the resident Phoenix expert, knowing more about it than everyone else here put together. Naturally she's ignored, as if they think about it too hard then they might develop some sympathy for Scott.

Logan swings his dick around and tries to do it without Scott, but he's as much of an expert in estate law as he is in Phoenixology. Logan cracks a smile after hearing where the secret school is located, then one thing leads to another and everyone wants to go get him. They could contact him or his crew via telepathy if they wished. They don't wish. I suspect they want to make things as uncomfortable for Scott as possible. Everyone has a lot of unexamined feelings about him that mainly manifest as anger.

Scott... has those too, with a ton of self loathing on top. These arseholes have been gaslighting him for years and he takes it pretty seriously. Slaying Chuck is eating him up and his support network, such as it is, is at an all-time low. He blames himself in a different way to everyone else though - where they just hold him culpable regardless of Phoenix possession he believes he wasn't strong enough to overcome it.

Of course, Scott is asleep when they come for him. Dude is frequently in bed when people come for serious chats, or maybe that just happens a lot including when he's trying to sleep. It must be Ororo's turn to barge into his room, surprising TF out of Scott. He barely has his clothes on before the other X-Men are psychoanalysing him and generally being passive aggressive. Attempts to refuse are handwaved by insisting that he has to be there for the reading.

Scott has had enough of these judgmental fucks and returns their mistrust with interest, under a veneer of politeness. He makes sure to check that there's no hidden motive or agenda and couldn't care less about Logan's prune face. I daresay everyone is glad he declined a ride - what an awkward trip that would be.

After discussing it briefly the entire faculty of the New Xavier School comes along for the ride, and the students are like 'what the fuck?' They're somewhat used to the emotional drama that's a near-constant, but they are surprised to be left without supervision. I'd expect Kitty to stay, but apparently not.

First cab off the rank is the hot reveal that Chuck married Mystique, shocking everyone present. It's a very strange thing to find out even for the reader. Especially for the reader. Chuck and Raven aren't exactly chums, and after Tempus makes some changes to the timeline this wedding somehow never happened. It's never explained and is a mystery to this day.

Emma Frost is ostensibly there for support, but she loses her shit when that tea is spilt. It's the most entertaining thing she's heard in a while. Nobody begrudges her enjoyment because it IS funny as fuck, though I'd expect a little more suspicion especially from Dazzler. Mystique is the queen of shady fucks and pettiness - it wouldn't surprise me if she surreptitiously finagled herself into the will just to fuck with the X-Men. Forget personal gain, she's committed to the bit.

Chuck has another surprise for them in the form of a Shi'Ar holographic projector. Fucks me why he'd include this in his will and not some other delivery method but it fits the theme of this will reading - Charles Xavier is NOT the saint he's revered as and he's got one final horribly dangerous secret. An ethically dubious responsibility for everyone to deal with that's already killed people - Matthew Malloy, the (groan) Omega Mutant - a man whose life he's been fucking with for decades. In part 2 the X-Men deal with that live grenade, Matthew has the worst day of his life, and then he's Terminator'd out of existence. Fun!

[rei-ismyname]

Chuck's Last Will and Testament 1

One fine day She-Hulk visited the Jean Grey school with Charles Xavier's will in hand. The gritted-teeth detente they'd reached with Scott Summers went out the window as they were not expecting this shit. The assumed presence of Scott will be tense enough but the very likely possibility of school ownership passing to him is salt in the wound.

The process of reading the will reminds everyone why it's necessary - the old man is dead and Scott killed him. It's an excellent dramatic tool, basically dropping an emotions bomb on everyone. Hilariously, She-Hulk has to ask if they're 100% positive he's dead. Superhuman law is wild shit, though I think it's a bit callous to act like it's exclusively an X-Men thing. She-Hulk is aware of the fourth wall, too so she should know better than anyone that it's a comic book thing.

The X-Men really want to get this over with but everyone named in the will must be present. That means Scott, and nobody is happy about it. Hank doesn't even want to think about him but he does know where his secret base is. I think Hank is not being entirely truthful here, perhaps unwittingly.

If he wasn't going to snitch he doesn't have a reason to spend time and effort fucking with Cerebro to find him. Yet he has done exactly that, despite firmly denouncing wanting anything to do with Scott in any capacity. Maybe he was going to then changed his mind. Either way, when it comes to Scott Hank is a ball of cold fury and spite.

She-Hulk is already regretting getting involved in X-Men drama, let alone Charles Xavier drama, when Logan pokes his head in to share that he doesn't own the school as previously thought. He signed it back over to Chuck at some point. I don't know what rock She-Hulk has been hiding under but her not knowing how Xavier died is odd. Nobody has been shy or quiet about why Scott is a fugitive and the Phoenix Five acted very publicly.

Rachel is the only one who doesn't completely buy the party line, extending grace to her alt-dad on grounds of Phoenix possession. It's a jab at AvX as she is the resident Phoenix expert, knowing more about it than everyone else here put together. Naturally she's ignored, as if they think about it too hard then they might develop some sympathy for Scott.

Logan swings his dick around and tries to do it without Scott, but he's as much of an expert in estate law as he is in Phoenixology. Logan cracks a smile after hearing where the secret school is located, then one thing leads to another and everyone wants to go get him. They could contact him or his crew via telepathy if they wished. They don't wish. I suspect they want to make things as uncomfortable for Scott as possible. Everyone has a lot of unexamined feelings about him that mainly manifest as anger.

Scott... has those too, with a ton of self loathing on top. These arseholes have been gaslighting him for years and he takes it pretty seriously. Slaying Chuck is eating him up and his support network, such as it is, is at an all-time low. He blames himself in a different way to everyone else though - where they just hold him culpable regardless of Phoenix possession he believes he wasn't strong enough to overcome it.

Of course, Scott is asleep when they come for him. Dude is frequently in bed when people come for serious chats, or maybe that just happens a lot including when he's trying to sleep. It must be Ororo's turn to barge into his room, surprising TF out of Scott. He barely has his clothes on before the other X-Men are psychoanalysing him and generally being passive aggressive. Attempts to refuse are handwaved by insisting that he has to be there for the reading.

Scott has had enough of these judgmental fucks and returns their mistrust with interest, under a veneer of politeness. He makes sure to check that there's no hidden motive or agenda and couldn't care less about Logan's prune face. I daresay everyone is glad he declined a ride - what an awkward trip that would be.

After discussing it briefly the entire faculty of the New Xavier School comes along for the ride, and the students are like 'what the fuck?' They're somewhat used to the emotional drama that's a near-constant, but they are surprised to be left without supervision. I'd expect Kitty to stay, but apparently not.

First cab off the rank is the hot reveal that Chuck married Mystique, shocking everyone present. It's a very strange thing to find out even for the reader. Especially for the reader. Chuck and Raven aren't exactly chums, and after Tempus makes some changes to the timeline this wedding somehow never happened. It's never explained and is a mystery to this day.

Emma Frost is ostensibly there for support, but she loses her shit when that tea is spilt. It's the most entertaining thing she's heard in a while. Nobody begrudges her enjoyment because it IS funny as fuck, though I'd expect a little more suspicion especially from Dazzler. Mystique is the queen of shady fucks and pettiness - it wouldn't surprise me if she surreptitiously finagled herself into the will just to fuck with the X-Men. Forget personal gain, she's committed to the bit.

Chuck has another surprise for them in the form of a Shi'Ar holographic projector. Fucks me why he'd include this in his will and not some other delivery method but it fits the theme of this will reading - Charles Xavier is NOT the saint he's revered as and he's got one final horribly dangerous secret. An ethically dubious responsibility for everyone to deal with that's already killed people - Matthew Malloy, the (groan) Omega Mutant - a man whose life he's been fucking with for decades. In part 2 the X-Men deal with that live grenade, Matthew has the worst day of his life, and then he's Terminator'd out of existence. Fun!

[rei-ismyname]

Jean Grey hulks out

During the Hidden Years, The X-Men needed a device from Bruce Banner to fix Chuck's brain. Originally they just stole it, but a later retcon showed collaboration. That didn't make things any easier...

As usual, a great many people were after the Hulk so the X-Men had to contend with them as well. Abomination was the closest threat, and this combo move from Jean and Scott was remarkably effective in helping them get away.

Once they had the device, Chuck's gung-ho arrogance led to Jean's brain absorbing gamma radiation. All seemed well at first, but then she started to change.

She Hulked out physically, but her mental abilities were affected too. It's a good look IMO.

She didn't exactly lose control, mainly becoming shorter and less polite to Xavier. The rest of the X-Men weren't affected by it, or were they? This sitch is absolutely his fault so it's unclear if they'd just want him to quit meddling regardless.

Jean is like 'fuck yeah, check me out' and starts flexing in general. She switches up her garb to something more fitting, borrowing Lorna's headgear and changing to a more gamma style.

Everyone agrees it looks great! Except this bald jerk, naturally.

The X-Men tell Chuck to fuck off and nothing bad happens at all. In fact the story ends here and Hulk Jean lives happily ever after. Yay

[rei-ismyname]

Fuck it, hit me.

Give me 6 characters and I’ll tell you who i would:

Push off a cliff

Kiss

Marry

Set on Fire

Wrap a Blanket around

Be Roommates with